The Secret Life of Jay Walker: Book Two: Surprised by Jay
by J.R.R. Not-Tolkien
Summary: Shortly after his father's death, Jay finds out some very interesting information about himself when sorting through his dad's belongings. Same warnings as "A Grief Observed": Christian themes, controversial and difficult topics.
1. Clean Up Day (And Memory Transplants)

**Yay! The second book in _The Secret Life of Jay Walker_ trilogy has begun!**

* * *

 **Chapter 1: Clean-Up Day (And Memory Transplants)**

This part of the adventure starts off much like the first did: with a phone call.

It was early December, and Ninjago City was engulfed in an equally early winter. Playful gusts of cold wind battered against the windows of the offices and buildings of the bustling metropolis. A light powdering of snow already dusted the trees and parking meters, adding to the slowly-ascending air of holiday cheer.

The tallest of these buildings was the Borg Industries headquarters, with its bright holographic emblem barely flickering as snow danced through it. This afternoon, the younger employees were released early from the day at the office, and they were coming out of the building, laughing and talking as they hurried down the steps to get to their cars.

One of the new employees was a young man of twenty-one years of age. He was tall and rather good-looking, with messy auburn hair, playful sea-blue eyes framed by black-rimmed glasses, and a lean figure dressed in an open navy blazer, a white collared shirt, a blue-and-white-striped tie, and navy dress pants and black dress shoes.

His name was Jay Walker, an intern in the Prototype Testing Department at Borg Industries, a close friend of Dr. Borg, and a recently enrolled student at Ninjago City College. More people would recognize him if he was dressed in a ninja gi, but those days were long ago. His past hadn't been forgotten, but for now, he would live the life of an average civilian, and he was content to keep it that way.

* * *

Jay reached into his pocket for his phone and quickly hit a speed-dial number. Stopping at the foot of the stairs, he set his briefcase down and checked his watch while waiting for the caller to pick up. "Hey, Jay!" one of his colleagues called. "You waiting for someone?"

"Sort of," Jay replied, but his workmate wasn't really listening. Which was fine by Jay, since the person he was waiting for had picked up. "Hey, Nya," he said.

" _Jay!_ " His fiancee was a little surprised to hear his voice. " _I thought you weren't getting out of work until tonight!_ "

"Change of plans upstairs," Jay explained. "I'll be home in probably about an hour. I promised Mom I'd help sort through the stuff she's moved from Dad's house in Wintergate to her new apartment. Just curious, are any of the other guys back yet?"

" _No,_ " Nya replied. " _Kai and Lloyd aren't supposed to get back from police training until five, Zane's putting in late hours at med school, and Cole's paying his dad a quick visit. It's just me, Sensei, and Misako here at the dojo. See you in an hour._ "

"See you then, sweetheart." Jay hung up. It looked like his deciding to get a job interning at Borg Industries and get a college degree had set off a chain reaction with his teammates. Kai and Lloyd, restless from not fighting bad guys, had applied in a school for training new police officers; Zane, eager to keep helping Ninjago's citizens, had been accepted into Ninjago's best medical school, and was pursuing a career as a doctor; and Cole . . . well, he had to get with the program and find a job, otherwise, he'd fall _waaay_ behind his teammates on the progress scale.

* * *

Climbing into his new blue Chevy Malibu, Jay plugged his phone into the charger and was about input his mom's address into the GPS, when he remembered how funky GPS systems could get. "I'm just going to rely on my memory for this one," he said aloud.

As he pulled away from the sidewalk and into the steady stream of cars, Jay thought over the events of the past three weeks. After the funeral for his father, Ed Walker, co-owner of Ed and Edna's Scrap 'n' Junk, head pastor of Ninjago City Baptist, and beloved father figure for the Ninja, Jay had been voted in as the church's new permanent worship leader, and his teammates, who all somehow possessed hidden musical talents, were the new permanent band. Zane had proved to be extremely adept at not only singing and the piano, but also the flute and the guitar, Kai was another excellent guitarist and backup singer, Lloyd knocked it out of the ballpark with his drum skills, Cole rocked the bass guitar, and Nya was a beautiful female lead singer.

 _Nya . . ._ Jay still couldn't believe he and Nya were engaged. It seemed like he'd proposed to her only yesterday, even though it was two weeks ago. It was a little overwhelming to think about, with the new responsibilities as Nya's husband nearly scaring him out of his shoes, but it was also exciting to think about. Jay was confident he and Nya could take whatever marriage and parenthood would throw at them. But sometimes a little voice tugged on his jacket and reminded him to slow down; that the wedding wasn't until May, and becoming instant parents probably wasn't a smart idea.

Jay always sighed and promised to pay attention to that jacket-tugging voice, but as soon as someone brought up plans for his and Nya's future, he would immediately forget his promise and get all excited and jumpy again.

But the elation about the wedding didn't make Jay neglect his newly-widowed mom. He visited her weekly, and had even helped her find the apartment in Ninjago City where she could live until the business with the house was settled. That was where he was going now, to fulfill his promise to help sort through his deceased dad's belongings.

* * *

Jay arrived at the apartment in five minutes. He knocked on the door, and almost immediately, Edna opened it. "Hello, Jay!" she exclaimed happily.

"Hi, Mom." Jay smiled and returned his mother's warm hug. "I'm here to help you sort out Dad's stuff."

"Oh, thank you, dear!" Edna smiled with delight. "I was just about to get started on it. Come inside!"

Jay gratefully walked inside after his mom; he hadn't dressed for this sudden colder weather.

The apartment was somewhat sparsely furnished, but Edna seemed content with her current situation. She had insisted on getting her own apartment, despite her son's invitation to stay at the dojo as long as she wanted.

When they entered the living room, Jay couldn't stifle a whistle of surprise. "How much stuff could you bring in that one trailer?" he asked in disbelief. The entire floor and part of the couch was covered in stuff, from failed inventions to old blueprints.

Edna chuckled. "Oh, you have no idea," she said. She picked her way neatly through the piles of clutter and onto the open part of the couch. Jay set his briefcase down and got on his hands and knees, pushing his glasses up on his nose as they began to slide off.

"Where should I start sorting?" he asked, shaking his blazer off and rolling up his shirt sleeves.

"Try that pile over there, by your left knee," Edna suggested, already going through a pile of blueprints sitting on her lap. "All stuff we should keep for memory's sake, put over there. Things we should keep for practical reasons, over there."

"So just move everything from one spot to another?"

"Exactly."

Jay shook his head, grinning. "I like that kind of organization." He immediately set to work, scooping up the papers in a pile and beginning to sort.

(The next thirty minutes is too boring to retell)

After thirty minutes, Jay picked up a leather-bound photo album. "Hey, Mom, mind if I look through this?" he asked, holding it up.

Not looking up from her work, Edna replied, "Of course, dear."

Jay began rifling through the album, smiling as the memories the old photos revived came back to him. The picture of his eight-year-old self hitting a homerun at his first baseball game; the photo of him and Grandma Erin, a few weeks before she passed away; his mom and dad at the fifteenth anniversary party of the junkyard. Ah, those were good times. . .

But as he neared the back of the album, the pictures were becoming less and less familiar to him. Jay's smile curved into a puzzled frown as he stopped at the last page of the album. It showed himself when he was two, sitting in Edna's lap and hugging her tightly. He and his parents were sitting in a room he'd never seen before. Toward the side of the picture, Ed was filling out forms. He looked for any photos as him as a baby, but he couldn't find any. _That's odd_ , he thought, confused.

As he opened up the back, some pieces of paper that had been hastily crammed in the back fell out. Curious, he began looking through them. His frown deepened as he registered the information. "Born June 17th, 1995, James 'Jay' Thomas Immanuel," he murmured, reading some of the information filled out on the forms. "Date of adoption: May 4th, 1997. . ."

He looked up. His mother had heard him reading, and Jay could see tears in her eyes. "Mom?" he said hesitantly. "Is there something wrong?" Then his eyes widened. "Is there something you haven't told me?"

She heaved a shaky sigh. "I'm sorry, Jay," she said quietly. "Ed and I were meaning to tell you, honestly, but just when we were going to, Ed passed away, and it was pushed to the back of my mind."

She placed a hand on Jay's shoulder, looking straight into his eyes. "Jay, sweetheart . . . you're not our birth son."

Jay let out a little squeak. "What?"

"You were . . . adopted."


	2. Jay, Did You Know?

**Okay, I'm back! This took me a little while, but I finally finished Chapter Two!**

 **Thanks so much to AwesomeDisneyWolfChild, Guest, SwimmerNinja13, crazycat056, and kairocksrainbow for their comments on the first chapter. Your support really means a lot.**

 **And about this story . . . as I warned in the summary, this particular book deals with some mature issues. It's not like "M-rated" mature, just a little harder to grapple with than is per usual a typical Ninjago fanfic. It's meant to make you think. That's all I'm going to say, otherwise I might end up blurting out the plot, and I don't want to spoil it for those of you were anticipating this sequel.**

 **Enjoy. And I apologize ahead of time if I make you cry.**

* * *

 **Chapter 2: Jay, Did You Know?**

Jay was in shock for the second time in the past three week period. His face turned pale, and his hands shook as they gripped his tie, suddenly dripping with sweat. "I was _what?!_ "

 _The father I had been mourning for wasn't my actual dad?!_ This thought was the only one in Jay's head as he stared at his mom in dismay, but he didn't dare say it out loud.

Edna nodded. "That's why we don't have any pictures of you since you turned three," she said. "Just that one." She gestured to the the last photo in the album, the one he had looked at before finding the forms. "That was taken the day we adopted you."

Jay stared at the picture. His two-year-old self looked so happy, sitting in Edna's lap and hugging her, he wondered whether he had experienced rejection at some point to make him so grateful to have parents. "Where was this taken?" he asked, his voice barely a whisper.

"Ninjago City Orphanage," Edna replied. "The matron seemed to think you were the best choice for our family." She took off her glasses to wipe her teary eyes. "Jay, I think it's time I told you about what happened."

 _About time_ , Jay thought. He was a little angry that his parents had never told him he was adopted. _If they really cared about me_ , he thought, _they would have told me when I was younger._ But then he felt regret. _They cared enough about me to adopt me in the first place_ , he reminded himself, extinguishing his anger and ungratefulness quickly.

"A week before we adopted you, Ed and I, who had been married for just over four years, learned from our doctor that, much to our dismay, we couldn't have children," Edna began, leaning back against the couch. "This was my second marriage, and my first husband had three children already, so I didn't think about having children of my own. But after he died and I married Ed, who did not have children, I began to take the idea more seriously. Both of us were devastated to find out that we couldn't have children, but we wanted one so desperately, that Ed suggested adoption or fostering. Fostering would only be temporary, and it would have broken our hearts to give the child back to their parents.

"So we decided to adopt. Our first choice was the local orphanage in Wintergate, but taking one look at the building, we knew we had to go to the one in Ninjago City, even though it was fifteen miles away.

"After hearing what we had to say, the matron brought you in." She couldn't help smiling through her tears. "You were such a cute little boy, almost like a miniature version of Ed in your overalls and your hands always working at something. You spoke almost as well as a four-year-old, and you had such a sweet smile, so full of innocence, like your beautiful sea-blue eyes."

Edna gently caressed Jay's cheek. "You were an inventor, even when you were little. The day we adopted you, you had built a little toy dog with a mouth that opened and closed when you pulled on its tail. That was part of the reason we decided to adopt you, but the true reason was because of your personality. You were creative, curious, thoughtful, sweet-natured, surprisingly intelligent for your tender age. But you were also sensitive to the feelings of others. After we adopted you, you said you hoped you hadn't hurt the matron's feelings by going away. I could tell she was very attached to you, by the way she spoke about you."

Jay was listening to his mother's words with tears in his eyes. He felt . . . strange. His entire world was somersaulting around him. He'd been grieving over the loss of someone he wasn't even related to, and now he was aware that the people who had so lovingly raised him for what he thought was twenty years weren't even his parents. All the while, he wondered if his biological parents were even alive, that they knew he was safe and well, even though ignorant about their existence.

Edna seemed to know what Jay was thinking, because she quietly added, "The matron didn't tell us very much about your past. Only that your mother had brought you in four months before. She didn't have a very high opinion of your birth mother, I'm sorry to say. When we asked if she knew anything about your parents, she had a slightly resentful, yet strangely sympathetic tone in her voice when she told us."

Jay finally had the breath to speak. "Is she still there?" he asked weakly.

Edna shrugged. "She also told us that she'd been matron at the orphanage for ten years. She was also somewhat young, late thirties, I think. I'm guessing she's still there, because she was very committed to her work at the orphanage."

She stroked her adopted son's hair. "I'm so sorry you had to find out this way," she said. "I'm sure you're probably feeling resentful toward me and Ed for keeping it a secret for so long."

Jay forced a smile. "Naw, not at all," he lied. "At least I know it now." He got up from his kneeling position, his sleeping legs unsteady. "Well, I guess I better go. I told Nya I'd be back at the dojo by five."

* * *

Jay didn't immediately go to the dojo. He stopped at Ninjago City Park, leaving his briefcase in the car and taking his custom BorgMusic Player with him. The music player was about the size of an iPhone 5 that worked by voice recognition. Any song the user asked for, he got. Plugging in his earphones, Jay slowly walked to the bench that, unknown to him, his friend Zane had sat not two weeks before, after his father's funeral. No, his _adopted_ father's funeral.

Jay had no idea whether his parents were dead or alive, or that they cared whether he was or not. The thought was depressing, and he had been going through a lot of depression since Ed's death. He sat with his chin in his hands, staring off into the slowly darkening sky, his mind at a complete blank.

He didn't notice his player was still on auto mode from work until an unfamiliar piano tune softly entered his ears. He had his "Christmas" mix going, in the spirit of the season, and when he checked what the song was, it was "Mary, Did You Know?" performed by Danny Gokey. Cole had recommended it to him, and he hadn't gotten a chance to listen to it.

" _Mary, did you know, that your baby boy would one day walk on water?_ " Danny sang, the piano and violin playing a haunting melody in the background. " _Mary, did you know, that your baby boy would save our sons and daughters? Did you know, that your baby boy has come to make you new? This child that you delivered, would soon deliver you. . ._ "

Danny sang the song so passionately, and the music was so sad and so deeply enchanting that Jay felt tears welling up in his eyes. He had never heard this song before, but the message it conveyed, and the way it was delivered touched Jay more than he thought possible.

" _Mary, did you know, that your baby boy would give sight to a blind man? Oh, Mary, did you know that your baby boy would calm a storm with His hands?_ " Danny sang.

Jay didn't stop his tears from falling down his face. His mother, if she was alive, probably didn't know what her son had become. She didn't know that he helped to protect and save Ninjago from the hands of the most evil villains the world had ever seen. She probably wouldn't even recognize him if she saw him. " _Did you know, that your baby boy has walked where angels trod? When you kiss your little baby, you kiss the face of God . . . Oh, Mary, did you know?_ "

Jay buried his face in his hands, unable to suppress his sobs.

* * *

 **I recommend you give the song mentioned, Danny Gokey's cover of "Mary, Did You Know?" a listen. I know it's not Christmastime anymore, but it's an impacting song, anyway, especially with the way Danny delivers it.**

 **It was also the song that inspired this fanfic series, so it's special to me in that way.**

 **Thanks for your time.**

 **#God's Not Dead**

 **(edited January 8th, 2018)**


	3. Two Confused Men

**Chapter 3: Two Confused Men**

Nya twisted the ring on her finger anxiously. Jay hadn't come back yet, and it was already past five. It wasn't like him to miss a deadline.

She looked at the ring. It was silver, shaped like two hands clasping a heart inlaid with a bright blue sapphire, and surmounted with a crown. She and Jay had agreed that the ring he had given her when he asked her to marry him would be used as her official wedding ring, and for an engagement ring, Jay had given her a Claddagh ring from his Grandmother Erin Walker.

Jay had explained that it was an Irish tradition that Claddagh rings would be passed down from mother to daughter, but since Grandmother Erin didn't have any daughters, she had made an exception and gave it to Ed, her oldest son, for his wife to have to give it to their only son or oldest daughter, and thus carry on the tradition.

Misako noticed the young woman's anxiety, and gave her a reassuring smile. "Jay will be here any minute, Nya," she said.

As if on cue, there was the sound of a key unlocking the front door, and a familiar face appeared in the doorway. Nya's amber eyes lit up, and she ran to greet her fiance. "Jay!"

Jay's face seemed more tired than usual, but there was that same mischievous sparkle in his blue irises as he hugged Nya, softly kissing the top of her head. "How was work?" she asked.

"Pretty good," he replied, reluctantly releasing her. "Nothing too interesting, unless you call a malfunctioning coffee machine interesting."

As Nya looked up at Jay's face, she noticed his cheeks were stained, as if he had recently been crying. Her brow creased in concern. "Are you okay, Jay?" she asked.

For a moment, Jay hesitated. Then he said, "I just need some time to be alone. I think I'll turn in early tonight."

Nya frowned as Jay walked through the living room, in a sort of dazed, staggering sort of way and disappeared into the bathroom. "I think there's something Jay's not telling me," she said quietly, sitting next to Misako on the couch.

Misako placed a hand on her shoulder. "I know that honesty is important in a marriage," she said, "and you're both learning that. Jay will tell you what's on his mind when he's ready."

"But what if he's never ready?" Nya asked.

"Jay has had enough experience with keeping a secret from you, and you have also kept secrets from him," Misako reminded her. "You both, especially Jay, are aware of the consequences of hiding things from the people they love. He will be ready, but it might not be instantaneous."

* * *

Jay climbed out of the tub and after drying himself off, quickly wrapped himself up in his bathrobe. The warm bath relaxed his worn-out muscles, but his mind and his heart was still as sore as they had been half-an-hour earlier.

"Jay?" Someone knocked on the bathroom door, making the young man jump in surprise. "Are you in there?"

Jay exhaled. "Yeah," he called back. "Come in."

Cole peeked into the bathroom, and seeing that Jay was decent, stepped into the room and shut the door behind him. "Nya told me you were acting a little odd when you got back from your mom's," he said, sitting on the dry edge of the bathtub.

Jay smiled nervously, taking his glasses out of his bathrobe pocket and fitting them on his face. "Why would she think that?"

Cole rolled his eyes. "Really, Jay, you'd think that after living with us for about four years we wouldn't know you better than you say we do? I know you too well to think that having a sudden urge to go to bed early when you've got studying to do is odd. If you won't tell Nya what's wrong, at least tell me."

Before Jay could reply, Cole added, "I'm concerned about you, Jay. You've been going through a lot in the past few weeks, and if there's something else to add to your problems, I want to know about it."

Jay sighed. "Why do friends have to be so darn loyal?" he muttered.

"It's a habit," Cole said, unable to stifle a grin.

Jay chuckled weakly, then heaved another sigh. "When I was at my mom's, I found an old scrapbook of my dad's," he said. He hesitated, but Cole nodded for him to continue. "I was looking through it when a bunch of old forms from eighteen years ago fell out of it. I looked through them." He swallowed back a shaky sob. "They were adoption forms . . . for me."

Cole's eyes widened. "Oh . . . wow."

Jay didn't need to hear anymore to know that Cole knew how he felt. Cole didn't need to say much to get his point across. He buried his face in his hands. "My _parents_ didn't tell me I was adopted for eighteen years, since I was two. Do you know how hard that is for me to know? That the people I thought were my real mom and dad _aren't_ my real mom and dad! I've been mourning someone I'm not even related to! And my actual parents, if I've got them, don't even know I'm alive and well!"

Cole gently put an arm around his friend as Jay began to cry. He didn't say a word, just sat there with Jay as the auburn-haired twenty-year-old sobbed into his hands. Jay was grateful that Cole didn't speak; he just needed a friend with him right at that moment.

Eventually he stopped crying, rubbing at his eyes as he put his glasses back on. "My mom─" Jay hesitated before continuing "─I mean, Edna told me that since she and . . . Ed couldn't have kids, they wanted to adopt one. So they came here to Ninjago City Orphanage, and that's how they found me. And, well, you kinda can guess the rest."

Cole nodded. "I was genuinely not expecting that," he admitted, "especially after what happened today."

Jay looked at him curiously. "Did you get some unexpected family revelation too?" he asked.

"Not exactly," Cole said, and he looked a little embarrassed.

Jay grinned. "Come on, Cole, spill it," he said. "You made me tell you what was the matter with me. Now you have to tell me what happened to you."

Cole's cheeks flushed a bright red. Then he said, "Well . . . remember about three days ago, when I said I was visiting my dad?"

"Yeah? You've been doing an awful lot of that lately."

"I was actually down at the Preston Moon Theater," Cole confessed. "My dad suggested that I try to audition to get a part in the musical they'll be releasing next year. It's supposed to be a good paying job, so I gave it a shot."

"What's the musical?" Jay asked, interested.

" _The Music Man_. And just before the auditions, I bumped into someone. Her last name seemed familiar─"

" _Her_?" Jay raised an eyebrow and smiled coyly at his friend, who was blushing even harder. "You bumped into a girl who introduced herself? That's a first."

"Stop it," Cole said, a little flustered. "Lots of girls have introduced themselves to me, though I'll admit most of them tried to fangirl attack me first. Anyway─"

"Could you at least tell me what her name was?" Jay persisted.

Cole sighed. "Her name is Gracie Dvoretsky," he said. "Like I was saying, her last name seemed familiar, so today, when I went back out─"

"To see your dad?" The tone in Jay's voice suggested that he suspected otherwise.

Cole smiled ruefully. "You're awfully cheerful about torturing me for information for someone who found out he was adopted."

"Hey, I'm interested in my pals' love lives, once they get them."

"Love lives?!" Cole's face wouldn't have been redder if he'd gotten sunburned. "I only met her once!"

"But judging by that starstruck look on your face, you want to see her again," Jay pointed out. "Go on. Who did you _really_ visit?"

Cole's face resumed its normal color. "My mom," he said quietly.

Jay was startled by Cole's reply. "Your mom? You never mentioned her to any of us."

"I haven't been able to see her in awhile," Cole explained. "And if I would have wanted you to visit her, I would have told you. But as of late, I haven't wanted to."

"How come? You don't have to tell me if I'm being nosy," Jay added hastily.

"It's okay," Cole assured him. He took a deep breath. "My mom was diagnosed with breast cancer a couple months ago, and she's not responding well to the chemotherapy. The doctors don't give her much hope at living more than five months from now."

For once, Jay was at a loss for words. He wasn't sure how to respond. Sure his situation was bad, but Cole . . . yikes. Finally, he said, "Wow. That must be hard to deal with." Cole merely nodded. "If you don't mind me asking," Jay said hesitantly, "what's your mom like?"

Cole smiled faintly. "I'm not sure I could describe her," he said. "She used to be a professional singer, but when she married my dad, she kinda quit that business, even though she was famous. When I asked her why she gave that up, she said that the love that came out of being a mom and a wife was better than anything the crowds could give. She didn't stop singing for us, though. She put me and my sisters to sleep every night with lullabies she wrote especially for us." He had a wistful look on his face as he recalled the pleasant memory. "I miss hearing her velvety voice resonating through the night like a church bell."

Jay took a little bit of a double-take. He had processed everything Cole had said with eager ears, except for one part. "You have sisters?"

Cole nodded. He took a book out from under his arm. Jay hadn't noticed it until now; it was Cole's scrapbook. Flipping through it, Cole stopped and held up his book, pointing to a picture. "This was taken a little before my mom was diagnosed with cancer," he said.

It was a family photo, taken in front of a decorative fountain in a magnificently tiled courtyard. Jay recognized Cole and his dad, dressed in 1800s-style "Sunday best", but the three women in the picture were unfamiliar to him. Cole had his left arm draped over the shoulders of a girl with long dark hair pulled back into a high ponytail, bangs pushed back with a green hairband. She had sparkling gray eyes and an olive complexion, slightly lighter than Cole's. "That's my twin sister, Natalie," Cole said, smiling.

"Apart from your eyes and skin tone, I couldn't tell the difference," Jay joked. "But who's that?" He pointed to a blonde girl on Cole's right.

"That's my younger sister, Cadance," Cole explained. "She's a little younger than Lloyd."

Jay frowned. "She doesn't look anything like the rest of you," he noted. "The blonde hair, the blue eyes, who in your family has those?"

"Apparently someone on my dad's side," Cole said, shrugging. "My dad's Russian, Italian, and Greek, so that's where I would guess Tossy's looks come from."

"Tossy?" Jay raised an eyebrow.

"It's my nickname for her. She hates it, but hey, that's what big brothers are for."

Jay's eyes traveled from Cadance to the woman standing behind her. His eyes widened. "Wow. Your mom. . ."

Cole smiled. "She's beautiful, isn't she?" Jay nodded. Cole's mother was a slim woman with skin the color of coffee, with long black hair tumbling down her back in raven waves, and her face lit up with a delighted smile. She had chocolatey-brown eyes flecked with emerald green, her irises identical to Cole's, and they glowed with tender affection for the family around her. One hand was on Cole's shoulder, and the other arm was encircled around her husband's waist. Lou's beaming face was enough to show how proud he was of his family, and the adoring look in his eyes as he had his arm around his wife betrayed that he thought the world of his beautiful bride.

"Evangeline Brookstone," Cole said softly, gazing at his mom and placing a finger on her cheek.

"That name sounds familiar," Jay remarked, looking thoughtful.

"She was a popular jazz singer at one point," Cole explained.

"This was taken on your vacation to New Orleans for that heritage festival, right?" Jay inquired.

"Yep."

The two boys were silent for several minutes. Then, Jay tried to break the awkward pause. "So why did you visit your mom?"

"Oh, right, I was gonna get to that. I visited my mom because . . . she doesn't react quite as strongly to things as my dad does. And if Gracie's last name was familiar to me for a bad reason, it would be better for my mom to hear, rather than my dad."

"And?"

Cole's face went red again. "Turns out it was a good thing I went to my mom," he said. "Gracie's family and mine have been bickering with each other for almost fifty years, starting with my however-many-greats-grandparents and Gracie's however-many-greats-grandparents."

"Sounds like you're Romeo and she's Juliet now, huh?" Jay suggested. "How bad is the argument?"

"Bad enough that my dad would never speak to her mom, or allow me to go near Gracie," Cole said glumly. "From what my mom told me, she isn't on bad terms with the Dvoretsky family, and neither is Mr. Dvoretsky with our family, but my dad, who's the dominant Brookstone, the patriarch, I guess, and Mrs. Dvoretsky, who's the dominant Dvoretsky, despise each other."

"Yep, that's Romeo and Juliet, all right," Jay confirmed. "What are you gonna do about it?"

Cole looked confused. "What do you mean?"

"Judging by your facial expressions whenever you bring up Gracie, you've already developed a crush on her, and knowing that you usually keep to something once you've got your mind, or your heart, set on it, you're not gonna let a family feud stop you from seeing her again."

Cole looked blankly at Jay. "Have you been hanging around Zane recently?"

Jay laughed. "Naw, though I guess I did sound like him, didn't I?" he joked. "I guess all I'm trying to say is don't let your fear of what your dad thinks of you get in the way of possibly beginning a relationship with Gracie. You don't even know the reason for the feud, do you?"

"I don't think anyone in our family or hers remembers the reason," Cole admitted. He looked a little more relaxed. "Thanks, Jay; I feel a lot better about what I found out. I'll probably see her again, since I─" He paused.

"Lemme guess, you got the part you were auditioning for," Jay grinned.

"I did, but I'm _not_ telling what it was until tomorrow, when we're all in one place, at least for the beginning of the day. Kai's meeting up with Skylor, Zane and his brother are going somewhere, Lloyd's doing who knows what, and you've got a date with Nya."

Jay slapped his forehead. "Good grief, I almost forgot about that! She's probably gonna feel weird cause she knows I'm keeping secrets from her-"

"-and you'll tell her on your date," Cole finished calmly.

"I am?"

"Yes, Jay, you are."

Jay shook his head, but he grinned. "I'm amazed at how you can predict my future like that," he said. "All right, I'll tell her. I was planning to, anyway. It seemed like the best place and time, but I didn't figure that out until you reminded me about the date. Thanks, bro."

"Hey, you helped sort out my emotional problems, I can do the same for you. You've got studying to do, right?"

"Yep, I'd better get moving."

* * *

 **Yay! We get to learn a little bit more about our favorite Master of Earth's background! To find out more, keep your eyes peeled for the next installment of _The Life and Times of Cole Brookstone: Act I: My Fair Lady_ , which should be coming out . . . I have no idea when. XD**

 **And the character Zorane, whom Cole mentions, is Zane's older brother, who is introduced in _The Brothers Julien: Book 1: Zorane_. That particular story is on hiatus at the moment, but I'm hoping to release the second installment, _Only an **** (spoilers in the title)_ in the near future.**

 **Goodbye, and God bless! Next time, we'll be sitting in on Jay and Nya's date!**

 **#God's Not Dead!**

 **(edited on January 8th, 2018)**


	4. Extremely Important Author's Note

**Okay. Here goes.**

 **Sorry if you guys are disappointed that this wasn't an update; I swear that Chapter 4 is in the making! It's just . . . an author's note. An important one. I'm serious.**

 **After a vivid discussion my family had at the dinner table, I decided that I ought to inform you of that mature and controversial topic I said this story was dealing with.**

 **Since my confidence level is zero right now, I've decided to tell you in a poem. It's not original, in fact, a lot of you may have seen it at some point.**

 **Okay. Here goes. . . please don't be angry with me.**

* * *

 **Month One**

Mommy

I am only 8 inches long

but I have all my organs.

I love the sound of your voice.

Every time I hear it

I wave my arms and legs.

The sound of your heart beat

is my favorite lullaby.

 **Month Two**

Mommy

today I learned how to suck my thumb.

If you could see me

you could definitely tell that I am a baby.

I'm not big enough to survive outside my home though.

It is so nice and warm in here.

 **Month Three**

You know what Mommy

I'm a boy!

I hope that makes you happy.

I always want you to be happy.

I don't like it when you cry.

You sound so sad.

It makes me sad too

and I cry with you even though

you can't hear me.

 **Month Four**

Mommy

my hair is starting to grow.

It is very short and fine

but I will have a lot of it.

I spend a lot of my time exercising.

I can turn my head and curl my fingers and toes

and stretch my arms and legs.

I am becoming quite good at it too.

 **Month Five**

You went to the doctor today.

Mommy, he lied to you.

He said that I'm not a baby.

I am a baby Mommy, your baby.

I think and feel.

Mommy, what's abortion?

 **Month Six**

I can hear that doctor again.

I don't like him.

He seems cold and heartless.

Something is intruding my home.

The doctor called it a needle.

Mommy what is it? It burns!

Please make him stop!

I can't get away from it!

Mommy! HELP me!

 **Month Seven**

Mommy

I am okay.

I am in Jesus's arms.

He is holding me.

He told me about abortion.

Why didn't you want me Mommy?

 **Every Abortion Is Just . . .**

 **One more heart that was stopped.**

 **Two more eyes that will never see.**

 **Two more hands that will never touch.**

 **Two more legs that will never run.**

 **One more mouth that will never speak.**

* * *

 **Yes. This story is coming from a pro-life view of abortion. That's all I'm going to say.**

* * *

 **You're probably wondering why the heck I even took the time to tell you this. It's because I care about you guys, and I wanted you to know exactly _what_ somewhat mature and definitely controversial topic I'm going to be dealing with in this story.**

 **And I also told you this because I didn't want it to be sprung on you if you have . . . views on the subject that are different from my own. I wanted to give you a chance to decide whether you wanted to read this story or not because of this topic. If you have different views, it's okay if you don't want to read this story. I understand. That's why I gave you this information.**

 **I'm going to include this as part of my author's note for Chapter 4, so don't be surprised if you see this again. I was originally planning to delete this once I got Chapter 4 up, but because I want first-time readers of this story to be aware of what they're dealing with, I changed my mind.**

 **So. . . *hides under the bed* Please don't be mad at me. . . I know I shouldn't care what other people think, but I love my community here, and the last thing I want is to offend people who like my stories because I believe a certain way about a certain topic, and they don't. I honestly don't know most of your guys' views on abortion, so. . . am I in the clear? Are you guys okay knowing this? I know that a lot of you were anticipating this sequel, and I'm truly sorry if I disappointed you. I want to know: are you going to be okay reading this story?**


	5. Date Night

**Hey guys! Titanium Jayde - or should I say the Jade Raven of Rivendell here!**

 **Sorry I've taken so long with this update - I've been working on other stories, and adjusting my profile (and my username) a lot in order to conform to my new interest: the Lord of the Rings: masterpiece of a book, masterpiece of a movie trilogy: just . . . Tolkien is a boss.**

 **Anyway, thank you so much for your kind reception of my recent revelation regarding this story - it was such a comfort to me to hear your positive words.**

 **Unfortunately, I don't have time to respond to your reviews, but I will say this: THANK YOU FOR YOUR PATIENCE! :D**

 **So, without further ado:** **Chapter 4: Date Night (aka Backstory Land)**

* * *

 **Chapter 4: Date Night**

Jay adjusted his tie and checked his hair in the bathroom mirror for what must have been the fifteenth time in the past five minutes. "How do I look?" he asked anxiously.

"You look fine," Cole said patiently, but unable to restrain a slight sigh. "It's just a shirt and tie, Jay, what's your problem? You're not proposing to her again, are you?"

"Why would I do that? We're engaged, we don't have to go through the whole thing again, and besides, second time's not quite as magical as the first when it comes to _les histoires de coeur_. Is it wrong to want to look nice?"

"No, but that's the tenth time you've asked me that question," his friend responded, "and just because I'm part French doesn't mean you can speak it in front of me that flippantly. Do you even have any French blood at all?"

"No-o-o, but there's a possibility, since I have to start all over again with figuring out my heritage," Jay replied with a shrug. "I could be the very romantic _gentilhomme Français_ , hm?"

"Well, _vous sûr de parler comme un_ ," Cole retorted, rolling his eyes and trying to stifle a grin.

"Hm, too jerky," Jay commented on Cole's poor French. "I'll make you an offer: I'll teach you how to speak French properly, and you teach me how to dance without stepping on people's feet."

"Deal. My mom wants me to learn how to speak it the right way anyhow."

"Speaking of which, how is your mom? You visited her today, right?"

"Yeah, I did. She's doing okay. Still not responding well to the chemo, but she's actually pretty calm about her predicament. I know I supposedly got my level-headedness from her, but I still can't imagine myself acting the same way if I was in her shoes."

There was a somewhat awkward pause, with the two boys avoiding each other's gazes. Finally, not being able to stand it anymore, Jay asked, "Did you find out what Zane and his brother are up to?"

"I wish I did," Cole sighed, "but all I got out of them was that they were going to the old lighthouse where Dr. Julien was imprisoned."

"Why would they wanna go there?" Jay frowned, holding up a black silk closed vest and contemplating putting it on. "Wouldn't that be the last place Zane would want to go?"

"Well, apparently Zorane hasn't been there before, and he's curious to see how their dad set up the place," the Master of Earth explained.

"Huh." Jay pulled the vest on over his head and examined his reflection again. Satisfied with the result, he quickly swiped a brush through his hair and straightened his tie. "Done!"

"It's about time," Cole teased. "Y'know it's taking all my willpower not to muss up your hair again, right?"

"I know." Jay couldn't resist a smirk as he pretended to toss his short auburn waves. "You can do that _after_ the date, buddy."

As he turned to leave, Cole gently placed his hand on his shorter teammate's shoulder. "Hey, have a good time with Nya."

Jay smiled. "Thanks."

* * *

 _Knock-knock!_ "Coming!"

Jay couldn't help sighing a bit dreamily at the sound of Nya's voice. He was always swept away by his beautiful girlfriend when they were dating, and now that she was his fiancee, he felt even more so whenever he saw her, or even heard her lovely voice.

Nya opened the door and smiled at Jay. "You look handsome," she remarked as she leaned casually against the doorframe.

Jay blushed furiously as he tried to catch his breath. _Wow. . ._ Nya looked absolutely gorgeous in her red dress with the square neck, which uncovered her slim collarbones and pretty throat, with her silver heart locket resting around her neck. Her waistline was defined by a brown leather belt buckled below her bust, and the hem of the sparkling red skirt swished about her knees as she moved. Her bobbed black hair was pushed back with a matching headband, and her feet were fitted into dainty red flats.

"You look amazing," Jay managed to stammer, face practically burning as Nya laughed and stood on her tiptoes to kiss him on the cheek. "I―I―I got these for you." He took the bouquet of sky blue roses from behind his back and offered them to her.

"Oh my word, Jay, they're beautiful!" Nya inhaled their sweet scent and sighed. "And they smell wonderful! Where did you get them?"

"A friend of mine," Jay mumbled, unable to hide the stupid grin on his face as Nya gently tucked one of the roses into his lapel. He made his smile more manageable as he put another rose into a fetching position on his fiancee, tucking the stem gently behind her ear, so the flower petals just lightly grazed the side of her face.

"You ready to head out for a night on the town?" he joked, offering her his arm as they walked down the hallway to get their coats from the lobby area of the dojo.

"With you at my side, I'm ready for anything," Nya smiled as she laced her arm through his. But she was lying. She honestly thought she could take any secret Jay had to hide from her, but she was really unprepared for the situation.

As Jay helped her into her coat, she couldn't help thinking about, on the whole, how blessed she was to have such a sweet fiance. Jay was a modern-day gentleman, making sure she was as well taken care of as any princess, always surprising her with the sweetest gifts and compliments, and always so shy and modest around her. He always was putting her needs before his own, and even though she often insisted that she could do heavy lifting or hard labor, she was inwardly touched by his eagerness to perform service for her.

Well, she was now. There was a time, not that long ago, that she felt like slapping him in the face whenever he offered to do something for her - it was really getting out of hand. But that all changed when she discovered the _why_ behind his constant, annoying chivalry. . .

* * *

 _April 2015 (shortly after the Tournament of Elements)_

 _She had overheard Kai talking to Jay when the subject of herself came up. "Jay, while I_ _ **do**_ _trust that you'll treat Nya right, there's one thing that bugs me."_

" _What's that?" Jay sounded nervous._

" _You're constantly trying to do things Nya is capable of doing herself,_ _ **and**_ _you keep asking her if there's anything she needs or wants you to do for her_ ― _you haven't gotten too paranoid yet, otherwise I would've locked you in a straitjacket by now, but still_ ― _what gives? You're not even dating her anymore."_

" _You're not gonna laugh at my answer, are you?"_

" _I won't . . . unless it's really funny."_

 _Jay sighed wearily. "Well_ ― _I know this is gonna sound really strange, but . . . I'm trying to be . . . well, Christ-like to her."_

" _Huh?" Kai was genuinely startled by the response. "What does_ _ **that**_ _mean?"_

" _I know, I know, it's not the best way I could have worded it, but it's the only thing I could think of to describe why I'm doing it."_

" _Could you maybe . . . elaborate? Why are you trying to be Christ-like to her? Besides the regular reason why." But before Jay could reply, Kai said, with a note of realization, "Wait . . . does this have to do with her weird behavior towards you?"_

" _ **Her**_ _weird behavior? What weird behavior?"_

 _Nya could hear Kai roll his eyes. "You know - always sitting as far away from you as possible, acting like she's deaf every time you talk to her, refusing to pass you anything at dinner . . . need I continue?"_

" _Ohhhhh . . ._ _ **that**_ _weird behavior. I didn't notice that." Nya cringed. She knew that Jay noticed_ ― _that slightly hurt look in his eyes when she gave him the cold shoulder gnawed at her conscience oh-so-constantly._

" _Are you trying to get on her good side or something? Because, honestly, it's not working."_

" _No_ ― _that has absolutely nothing to do with it." Jay sounded reproachful. "And_ _ **do NOT**_ _make any Westley jokes right now or I'm gonna make like Inigo Montoya and you'll have 'prepare to die' real quick."_

" _Okay, okay, I won't." Kai was surprised by how serious Jay sounded._

" _I know she doesn't like me_ ― _I would even go so far as to say that I think she hates me, but I'm still trying to do these things for her because it's what Christ would do. He would_ ― _and does_ ― _love her unconditionally. My way of showing love_ ― _well, one of my ways, anyway_ ― _is through acts of service. If I want to do something for you, even if it means interrupting or putting off what I'm doing to do it, and not be sloppy about it, it's a way I say 'I love you.' A nonverbal way of saying it, anyway. I do it with you guys too, just maybe not on the same level as I do it with Nya."_

 _There was a beat._

" _Wow, Jay. That's . . . profound." Kai sounded slightly touched, something Nya thought unheard of. "And sweet, actually. You really do care a lot about us, don't you?"_

" _Of course I do! You're more than just my friends_ ― _you're my brothers. And if there's anything I can do that shows you that I love you, I'll do it!" There was a small pause. "Well, within reason. I'm not gonna get you out of chores."_

 _Kai laughed. "I promise I will never abuse that, Jay. That's really special that you shared that with me."_

" _Hey, just because I don't hang out with you like I do with Cole or Zane doesn't mean I can't use you as a confidant."_

" _Well then, what about Lloyd?"_

" _Lloyd_ _ **who?**_ _I never see the kid anymore_ ― _he's always working or studying or something that keeps him from having fun."_

" _Hm_ ― _I'll have to look into that."_

 _Another pause. "Well, now that I've said what I said, I can see where you were coming from," said Jay. "I was trying to do what I thought was the right thing so hard that I didn't see I went overboard until it was too late. I've probably driven her further away now."_

" _Hey, don't say that. Your heart was in the right place_ ― _you just need to tone it down a little. But for starters, maybe try not to ask her if you can do anything for her for as long as you think is the right time before you try again. It's never too late for a fresh start, right?"_

" _Yeah, you're right. Okay, I'll try." A beat. "How about a hug?"_

" _Mm . . . all right. Just this once."_

 _Nya could hear the boys hug. "Are PDAs another way you show you love someone?" Kai asked, slightly rueful._

" _Yep. Although this isn't really public, is it?" Jay laughed as he pulled away. "And I know you liked it."_

" _Okay, okay, maybe I did, a little," Kai relented. "You know, I've always wanted a little brother like you_ ― _Nya's a great sis, but I've wondered what it'd be like to have a brother."_

" _Hey, you're only ten months older than me."_

" _You're still my baby brother, and there's nothing you can do about it now, Flip," Kai teased, rumpling Jay's hair. "Flip" was an affectionate nickname for the ever-panicking Jay, although he insisted it originated from his childhood, and his ability to perform near perfect backflips._

" _Watch who you're calling Flip, Kailo Ren," Jay teased playfully back._

 _At this point, Nya pulled away from the door, running into her room and slamming the door shut behind her. She spent the next five minutes just crying. She felt so badly for Jay_ ― _he admitted wholeheartedly and so innocently that he was trying to treat her as Christ would, even when she treated him like garbage. And he also confessed to her brother that his behavior was an unspoken way of saying "I love you!"_

" _Why would he love me after all I've done to him?!" Nya sobbed. "I betrayed him_ ― _I've been horrible to him_ ― _and yet he still loves me! I feel like such a Judas! And my faith's been suffering because of my stupid fickleness! I keep telling myself that I hate him when I love him so much! Why do I tell myself that?!"_

 _She bowed her head, and still sobbing, prayed, "God, forgive me for being so hateful to Jay_ ― _and for not listening to You! If I had, I never would have gotten us into this mess in the first place! I've been ignoring Your voice, but I won't do it anymore! I'm coming back to You!"_

 _As soon as the words left her lips, Nya felt a sudden wave of calm wash over her and envelop her like a warm, comforting blanket. Even though she heard no audible voice, she instinctively felt that someone was speaking to her. Saying to her, "My daughter, you are forgiven."_

 _Nya breathed shakily, her tears finally spent. "Thank You, Lord." She was ready to talk to Jay._

 _That same night, she confessed to the Lightning Ninja that she had overheard the conversation between himself and Kai, but Jay didn't get mad. Although he stuttered a lot, and he was constantly trying to keep speaking in coherent sentences, Nya was able to decipher that he was actually happy she had heard it_ ― _it was probably better that she knew._

" _Jay, there's something_ _ **you**_ _need to know, too," said Nya. She startled him by gently taking his hand. "I owe you an apology_ ― _a big one. You haven't deserved the way I've been treating you_ ― _I've been really immature, holding onto hate that isn't even there. I've let the sun go down on my anger for far too long_ ― _and I took it out on you. I'm really sorry, Jay. Do you forgive me?"_

 _Jay smiled shyly at her. "I forgive you, Nya," he said._

" _And . . . there's something else." Nya felt her face flush. "Do you think . . . well . . . we could maybe start over?"_

" _Start over?" Jay's eyes widened in surprise. "You mean_ ― _as friends, or_ ―"

 _Nya rolled her eyes, unable to hide a smile. Jay was really the cutest thing. . . "I mean, start over where we left off_ ― _when we were dating. If you're ready, that is. We can start over as friends if you want_ ―"

" _I'm totally ready!" Jay blurted out. The nineteen-year-old blushed as Nya laughed. "Sorry_ ― _was that too, um_ ―"

" _You deserved that," Nya smiled. "And you're really cute when you get excited."_

" _Excited? Who says I'm excited?"_

* * *

Nya laughed quietly to herself at the memory. "Hey, Nya, sweetheart―" Jay waved a hand in front of her face, slightly concerned. "You zoned out for a while there. You okay?"

The Water Ninja gently pushed her fiance's hand away. "I'm all right, babe, don't worry," she assured him with a smile. "Just reminiscing. How long has it been since we got back together?"

"Eight months, I think." Jay smiled back, bending down to lightly brush his lips against her cheek as he helped her into her coat. "Eight wonderful months."

"Yes―eight wonderful months." Nya smoothed the front of Jay's coat―a handsome tan trench affair with matching gloves. "And in another five, I'll get to call you my handsome husband."

Jay took her arm again, once again flashing that amazing smile that took Nya's breath away. "In the meantime, will you allow your handsome fiance to escort you to the car?"

"With pleasure."

* * *

"So, what do you want to order?" Jay asked. "You can get whatever you want; it's my treat." The pair had arrived at their destination―Jay had surprised Nya with a special dinner at _Richard's_ ―one of the more swanky restaurants in Ninjago City.

"You don't have to do that, Jay," Nya protested. "Don't we usually split the cost?"

"Not tonight," Jay insisted. "It's my way of repaying you for . . . last night."

"Last night?" Nya frowned. "Oh . . . you mean your . . . _odd_ behavior?"

"Yeah." Jay smiled ruefully. "I think _weird_ might be a more appropriate adjective. And I'm really sorry about that; I needed to take some time to think about something. But I _am_ going to tell you tonight, I promise. Just . . . maybe after we eat something."

"Yeah, I can probably wait," Nya's frown faded back into a smile. "I haven't eaten since I snacked around eleven. And since you're treating. . ."

 **~*Surprised by Jay*~**

"Remind me never to offer to pay the full price here again," Jay sighed, staring at the number on his calculator and face-palming.

Nya laughed. "All right, I insist that we split the cost―that's how you can repay me for what happened yesterday. It's the thought that counts, and I think you had a very nice thought. A slightly stupid thought, but a nice one."

"Deal. I probably would have gone into debt trying to pay for this." Jay frowned as he fully processed what his fiancee said. "A slightly stupid . . . _Nya!_ "

Nya laughed again, leaning over the table to kiss Jay on the cheek. "You're really cute when you're annoyed," she said sweetly.

Jay couldn't help rolling his eyes, smiling ruefully at Nya's teasing. "Well, you'll probably see more cuteness if the service is really slow."

 **~*Surprised by Jay*~**

"Oh my gosh, this was _SO_ worth the wait," Nya swallowed, wiping her mouth on her napkin.

"I've had good carbonara before, but this is ridiculously delicious!" Jay agreed, taking another bite of food before replying. "Have you tried the steak yet?"

"Not yet; how is it?"

" _Practically perfect in every way,_ " Jay quoted in a marvelous British accent, nearly making Nya sputter on her forkful of carbonara. "But seriously, the price tag is appropriate for how great this is."

Once she had recovered, Nya smiled at her fiance. "Sometimes I wonder how a guy who thinks bacon cheeseburgers and milkshakes are a balanced meal has such sophisticated taste."

"Ah, do not underestimate ze _sophistication_ of ze classic bacon cheeseburger, _mademoiselle_ ," Jay was careful to use his French accent once Nya was finished chewing. "Under it commonplace bun hides ze meat of a cultured _artiste de cuisine_."

"Do you even hear yourself?" Nya stifled her laughter behind her napkin.

" _Excusez-moi_ , when I put on my _accent Français_ , I am swept away in my descriptions, _ma belle cherie_ ," Jay's voice broke, almost collapsing into helpless laughter at his own antics and the priceless look on Nya's face. "Oh gosh, I'm going to _die_!"

Once they had recovered, the couple resumed their meal, conversing merrily with each other and making each other laugh.

 **~*Surprised by Jay*~**

"So, should we get dessert, or walk some of this off?" Jay suggested.

"Ohhh, don't even bring up dessert," Nya groaned, gratefully taking the antacid Jay courteously offered her and popping it into her mouth. "Walking sounds _really_ good right now. What do you think?"

"I concur completely. Gotta keep my slim figure, y'know."

"You know, most guys want to be muscular, not slim," Nya commented as she handed Jay her debit card and he tucked it, along with his own, into the bill folder.

"And yet all of those _bishounen_ girls freak out over these days are lean and lanky," replied Jay, flashing his familiar smile. "Like me, just more dark and brooding, and not so lovable and charming."

"Well, I prefer lovable, charming you to any dark and brooding _bishounen_ ," Nya smiled back. "And I'll prefer you even more when we have that little chat you promised me."

"Point taken. Once we get our cards back, we'll go on that walk . . . and we'll have that chat."

* * *

About fifteen minutes later, Jay and Nya were walking through Ninjago City Park―not to be confused with the Ninjago Heroes Memorial, where the statue of Zane the Titanium Ninja stood, but a beautiful public garden on the outskirts of the city, which particularly shone during the Haru Sakura Festival. But that was several months away, and at present, the park was painted over with a delicate gilding of powdery snow, the sparse population of evergreen trees decorated with festive lights, which twinkled and glittered in the early evening darkness.

Under the soft buttery glow of a street lamp, the young couple stopped to sit on a park bench. From their place on the right side of the sidewalk, they had a wonderful view of the gorgeous lake called the "Waters of Two Hearts", coated now with a thick, flawless glaze of ice. Within a day or two, children and adults alike would come scurrying to the lake to play ice hockey or to skate with friends or loved ones.

Snuggling up closer to Jay, Nya smiled softly as she felt Jay gently wrap his arm around her waist, and she rested her head on her fiance's shoulder. She savored his lovely and soothing scent of vanilla and citrus, and sighed contentedly as he reached over and rested his free hand, soft and smooth, over hers.

"The park is beautiful any time of the year, but there's always something so mysterious and enchanting about it in the wintertime," she said quietly, her breath coming out in soft puffs of mist.

Jay paused before replying. "Zane told me a legend about this place―how the lake got its name. Before this place became Ninjago City, when it was still called _Senshi no Machi_ , the city's governor's son fell in love with the exceptionally beautiful daughter of the city's best blacksmith. His father wanted him to marry a girl of high birth, but his son's heart was set on the blacksmith's daughter. She loved him as much as he loved her, and her father did everything in his power and skill as a smith to prove to the governor that his daughter was worthy of his high standards.

"Finally, the governor made a deal: he would allow his son to marry the girl if the blacksmith could forge a pair of linked hearts that could never be broken―but he could not use fire to seal the link."

"That's impossible!" Nya interjected. "Forging relies on fire for the main metalwork―not being able to use fire to seal a permanent link is a recipe for disaster!"

"That's basically what the blacksmith said," Jay said. "But the governor wouldn't change his mind, and thinking that the blacksmith wouldn't be able to complete the task, planned to marry his son off to the daughter of another governor.

"But the son caught wind of his father's dishonesty, and he quickly informed the blacksmith and his daughter of the governor's intent. Thinking that their love was doomed, the girl began to cry, and as her lover tried to comfort her, accidentally pushed the two metal hearts which the blacksmith had forged and temporarily linked, off the anvil. One of the hearts fell on his foot, and as he tried to pick it up, he cut himself on the sharp metal, and his blood, along with his love's tears, fell onto the unsealed link.

"The combination of his blood and her tears sealed the link, and when the blacksmith tried to pull the hearts apart, they didn't break or come apart, or even slightly bend. Overjoyed, the blacksmith, along with his daughter and her lover, went to the governor and showed him the completed project.

"Upon seeing that the blacksmith had kept his end of the bargain, but not wanting to keep his, the governor tried to kill himself, but was stopped before any harm was done. He was forced to uphold his end of the deal, and his son and the blacksmith's daughter were married. As a reminder for their deep love for each other, they kept the two linked hearts in their palace, and when they died, their children locked the hearts in a chest and buried it between their parents' graves.

"When Ninjago was attacked by the British a couple centuries later, the hearts were dug up from their resting place, and, not thinking they were of any value, the British soldiers threw the chest with the heart into the lake in front of us now. After Ninjago became independent of British rule, the elderly passed the story of the two hearts down to their children, and―well, you know how those things go."

"So, are the two hearts still down there?" Nya asked curiously.

"If the legend's true, yeah, they should be," Jay shrugged. "People gave up trying to dive for them a long time ago." He looked down at her, and in the glow of the lamplight, his auburn hair seemed to turn gold, and his eyes gleamed with a gilded flame. "If the lake weren't frozen over, I'd go and get them for you, Nya."

"That's very sweet of you, Jay, but I don't need metal hearts to tell me how much you love me," Nya replied, her face flushed with a touched pink hue. "I already have one of my own." She held up the finger which her engagement ring encircled.

Looking at the ring, Jay's smile faded, and he turned away. Nya could read shame in his expression. "What's the matter?" she asked, putting a hand on his shoulder. "Something about the ring made you upset."

"I feel . . . guilty that I gave you something that wasn't even mine to give," Jay said quietly, and as his face turned tentatively towards hers, she could see tears glistening in his sapphire eyes.

Nya wondered whether this was the revelation Jay had promised her. Realizing a possibility behind Jay's statement, she asked, a little hesitantly, "Jay . . . you didn't steal this, did you?"

"In a way, I did," replied Jay. "Just like my name isn't even my own, either."

"Your name isn't James?" Now Nya was confused.

"No―at least I think my name is James, I don't know anymore," Jay said miserably, folding his arms around his knees and pressing them to his chest. "One thing I do know―my last name isn't Walker, and I didn't just attend my dad's funeral."

Now Nya was even more confused. "Jay, what are you talking about?" she asked.

"I'm adopted, Nya," Jay turned his tear-filled eyes towards her. "And the worst part is―my entire life has been an eighteen-year-old lie―my parents aren't my real parents, that ring isn't my grandmother's, and everything I thought was true about my family has been torn to pieces right in front of my face. Every gift they've given me, every show of love―I feel like I stole it from them―since I wasn't even a real part of their family."

* * *

 **Ouch. That's painful.**

 **Unfortunately, I've forgotten what most of the translations are (it's been a REALLY long time), and I can't find the one for _Senshi no machi,_ but I think it means "city of warriors."**

 **Anyway, JRR (not Tolkien) out! God bless!**


	6. Struggling

**Wow. I sure have been taking my sweet time with updating, haven't I?**

 **. . . s** **orry not sorry.**

 **I've been working on a lot of stuff, and I've been suffering from writer's block on certain stories. Sorry if I sound annoyed - I'm kinda irritated with myself for now updating more often. I keep getting all these awesome new ideas for fics that I don't want to put up until I reach the halfway mark on a few of my stories. For the record, the next chapter (Chapter 6) will be the halfway mark for this fic :3**

 **Review Replies:**

 **Loki God of Evil: Um . . . I think I'll take that as a compliment. And I can kind of imagine how hard that would be to hear - not from experience though.**

 **SwimmerNinja13: Thanks! :3**

 **Well, guess I'd better get going. Oh, and if you see an asterisk (this little fella: *), that means there's a footnote for the thing at the end of the chapter.**

* * *

 **Chapter 5: Struggling**

Nya was struck speechless. Oh, gosh. . . _Poor Jay,_ she thought, only able to stare at him, which made him more miserable. "I didn't want to tell you, Nya," he said, tears beginning to roll down his cheeks. "I didn't want you to know you were going to end up marrying a nobody: an orphan who was ditched by his real parents for who knows why, and couldn't even call a junkyard his real home. But I knew that lying would make me feel even worse. Especially lying to you: my future wife whom I love and treasure so deeply."

Jay was trying so hard not to cry, but he could not hold back the cold, salty tears streaming freely from his beautiful blue eyes. Nya hated seeing her sweet fiance cry, because when he did, he looked so unhappy, which was a drastic change from his normally bright and cheerful self.

She gently rubbed Jay's back, massaging his tense muscles. She didn't say anything; she just quietly sat beside him, keeping one arm draped around him and letting him sob.

Eventually, Jay's sobs subsided, and he gave his red-rimmed eyes one final swipe with his fist before putting his glasses back on. "I've been a regular old fire hydrant the past few weeks, haven't I?" he said, with a weak attempt at his old smile.

"Crying's not a bad thing, Jay," said Nya, a little awkwardly.

"I know, I know - but it still feels weird when you can't stop." He sniffled. "You wouldn't happen to have a Kleenex, would you?"

After rummaging in her pocket, Nya discovered she did have a wad of unused Kleenexes on hand. "Here, Jaybird," she said with a weak smile, handing him the tissues.

"Thanks, Nys." Jay blew his nose vigorously into the handful of Kleenex. "It's just . . . gosh. I feel like I'm on that ride at Mega Monster Amusement Park: you know, the Hurl-n-Whirl or whatever it's called, gone haywire. I feel upside-down and sideways and every which way, and it's making me sick."

"I can imagine," Nya murmured. She winced at the slightly sad look Jay gave her. He could see that she honestly couldn't fathom what he was going through at this time.

"Okay, maybe I can't imagine exactly," she confessed. "But I think I have a pretty good idea of it. When our parents disappeared, when Kai was five and I was three, we didn't know what was going on. Our parents were gone, just like that. But then our grandparents―both sets of them―came to take care of us. They raised us, but we didn't forget our real parents."

"But I forgot my real parents: I was adopted when I was almost three!" Jay squeaked, voice cracking again.

"That's what I first thought when Kai reminded me of that," said Nya gently. "For awhile, I _did_ think that Kai, Abuelo, Abuelita, Ojisan, and Obasan ***** were my only family. But there were still little traces of my parents left in my memory: my father's smile, my mother's laugh, an old lullaby, just little things like that."

Jay was silent for a few moments. Then, he said, "Nya, I appreciate you trying to give me some hope about my parents, but it's actually making me feel worse. The fact that you had not only your brother, but both sets of grandparents to rescue you when your mom and dad disappeared . . . it's just not the same. You had people to remind you of your past. I didn't." He rested his chin in his hands, not meeting her eyes.

Nya couldn't help feeling frustrated with her fiance. She wanted to call him out for pitying himself like this, but as she watched him, shoulders trembling with restrained tears, she remembered all the times he had gone through something tough: something that affected him and him alone, and not once did he complain about it. He freaked out, sure, or put a smile on and tried to laugh it off, or―and this drove Nya crazy―he tried to deal with it by himself, not telling his teammates what was going on until he was forced to. Nya hated it when he tried to handle his big problems all by himself, but now that he was opening up more―not just to her, but to his other teammates―she found herself thinking he was acting like a kid who wasn't getting his way.

 _He has a point, you know_ , a voice in her head said quietly. _You had your older brother and two sets of grandparents to watch out for you after your parents disappeared. They told you so much about your parents, it was almost like you knew them, even though they didn't raise you. Jay's adopted parents knew practically nothing about his biological parents, so they couldn't tell him what they were like_ ― _whether they loved him. You may think you know what he's feeling, but, be honest with yourself. You don't._

Nya sighed. What could she do then?

"What do you want me to do, Jay?" The question slipped out before she could stop herself. She hadn't intended to speak her thoughts out loud, but there it went, right off her tongue and into the crisp winter air.

Jay didn't reply. He just hung his head and turned away.

Nya bit her lip, chewing it pensively as she searched for something to say. She hated seeing Jay hurting so much, but she didn't know how to help. And that made her feel even worse.

"You're right," she said quietly, placing a hand on his shoulder. "I don't know how you must be feeling, and I probably never will. But I've felt some of the same things you're probably struggling with: shame, insecurity, rejection."

Jay looked up, face hidden in his coat sleeves, but under his hat brim, she could see he was slightly surprised. This spurred her to continue. "You don't think people have picked on Kai and me for not having real parents? For learning a trade that people dismiss as old-fashioned and unnecessary? Heck, I've been picked on for just being a girl."

"Whoever did that to you needs a brain transplant." Jay's voice was muffled by his sleeve, but Nya still heard it, and she smiled.

"You're sweet," she said softly. "But not a lot of people shared that belief in my hometown. Kai and I were the weird kids with the parents who ditched them for no reason and the grandparents who were behind the times. In fact, the only place we really felt accepted was when Sensei Wu recruited Kai to be a ninja."

" _Kai?_ " At this, Jay looked up, blue eyes wide behind the black rims of his glasses. The most popular guy on Chirp and FaceBase ******? A social outcast? You're kidding, right?"

"Kai would wish I were kidding." Despite the relative gravity of the topic, Nya laughed out loud at the look of disbelief on her fiance's face. It took a minute for Jay to get it, but he laughed too: a good, honest Jay Walker laugh, the laugh that reminded her of pleasant jaybird chatter. Jay was the only person who could make "jaybird chatter" sound even remotely pleasant, and he made it exceedingly so. "But you wouldn't think it to look at him, would you?"

"Either of you: I mean, Kai's the cool guy on the block and everything, but you're so smart and brave and pretty and―" Jay stopped mid-sentence, blushing. "Was I rambling again?"

"A little." Nya gently kissed him on the cheek. "But it's a sign that you're feeling better . . . right?"

Jay nodded. His mouth curved into that adorable lopsided smile that Nya loved. "Yeah . . . I'm feeling a little better. Still hurting, but it's not so bad now." That lopsided smile transitioned into a unstoppable yawn. "Gosh, that cry felt good, but now I'm really sleepy. . ."

Nya couldn't help smiling as Jay's head slumped sideways, resting against her shoulder, eyelids slipping shut. "Oh, Jay," she murmured, softly kissing his cheek again; she took his keys from his pocket. "Let's get you home."

* * *

Nya carefully maneuvered Jay's car into the garage. Her fiance showed no signs of waking, breathing softly in his sleep as she helped him out of the passenger seat and up to the front door. Checking her watch, she noted that it was nine-forty-five. The others would probably be watching TV.

Shifting Jay's arms draped over her shoulders, Nya knocked on the door, she couldn't reach her keys for fear of accidentally dropping Jay.

It took only thirty seconds for someone answer, though it felt longer. Kai opened the door, dressed in a red bathrobe over matching striped pajamas. "Hey, sis, how was your date?" he asked, hiding a yawn behind his hand.

"Enlightening," she replied. "Where are the guys?"

"Zane and Zorane got back about a half-hour ago with yet another addition to the Julien family ******* ," said Kai, scrubbing at his amber eyes. "Zane'll explain once you―" He finally noticed that a sleeping Jay was slung across his sister's shoulders. "What's up with Jay?" He seemed more alert now, and concerned.

"He hasn't been drinking, if that's what you're concerned about," Nya said patiently. "He's just had something of a rough night. I let him sleep, and I'm going to put him to bed now."

"I think maybe one of _us_ should probably change him into his pajamas," said the Master of Fire quickly. "C'mon, give me an arm."

Carefully, without disturbing the sleeping Master of Lightning, Kai and Nya helped change Jay into his pajamas and tuck him into his bed.

Jay made a soft purring sound in his sleep, his mouth curving into a small half-smile as Nya gently tucked his favorite plush cat: a worn, well-loved Tigger toy, into his arms. "I think I'll stay with him for a bit," she said to her older brother, gently stroking her fiance's hair. "I'll join you guys in about a half-hour."

"All right." Kai exited the room, leaving the door slightly ajar. "We'll probably be in the media room."

* * *

" _I now pronounce you husband and wife!"_

 _Jay smiled tenderly down at Nya. They were onboard an 18th-century sailing ship, bedecked in white and blue in honor of the wedding celebration which was just being concluded._

" _You may kiss the bride," the minister said._

 _Jay bent down to kiss Nya . . . but he didn't get the chance._

 _A blast of cannonfire rocked the ship, sending shrieking wedding guests diving over the side in terror. Nya clung to Jay, frightened, as a gang of vicious-looking pirates swung onto the deck, forming a sneering, sniggering ring around the young couple. Jay boldly shielded his bride from the ruffians, but the ring parted to make way for one pirate, clearly their leader, although he was strangely blurred in appearance. Jay couldn't exactly make out what the man looked like, but he felt a surge of hatred well up in him at the man's presence._

" _Well, well, what have we here?" the man purred, eyeing the silver band on Jay's finger. "A pretty pair of newlyweds."_

 _Jay held Nya protectively to him. "Stay away from Nya," he said fiercely._

 _The pirate smirked. "Oh, I'll claim my prize soon enough. Right now, I have some looting to take care of, starting with those rings."_

" _Nya's not a prize to be won, you cad," Jay snarled. "And we're not giving up our wedding rings!"_

" _In that case, I'll have to take them from you!" Seizing Jay's hand, the pirate tugged on the ring on Jay's finger. The silver band remained firmly fitted around Jay's finger, but the pirate only smirked at the stubborn band. "You know what happens when the ring won't come off?"_

" _You let us off and move on?" Jay asked hopefully._

" _No. We chop off the finger!" Seizing Jay's wrist, the pirate drew his cutlass with his other hand._

" _NO!" Nya cried, desperately struggling to get to Jay, but she was restrained by two more pirates. "Let him go, please!"_

 _The pirate ignored her, and with one swift stroke and a sickening crack, Jay's ring finger fell to the deck, blood splattering everywhere. "AHH!" Jay cried out in pain, clutching his bloody hand and falling to his knees, tormented by throbbing blasts of agony._

" _JAY! HELP!" Looking up, Jay's heart jumped clear into his throat. The two pirates who were holding his bride were dragging her backwards into the captain's cabin._

" _NYA!" Jay screamed. He tried to get up, but his feet were like cement. He was unable to move, unable to save his beloved. "GET YOUR FILTHY HANDS OFF HER!"_

" _Throw the boy overboard!" The captain's voice came through the cabin door._

 _Two pairs of burly hands seized the young man, and before he knew what was happening, Jay was falling through an immense darkness. "NYA! NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" ********_

* * *

Jay sat bolt upright in bed, breathing heavily. The young man quickly switched on his light. Holding up his hand under the light, he inwardly sighed with relief―all of his fingers were intact, although the base of his ring finger was still tingling with an invisible pressure. *********

"Jay?"

"AHH!" Jay yelped, nearly jumping out of bed at the unexpected voice at his bedside.

"Calm down, it's just me!" Jay looked, pupils dilated, at Nya. Her lovely face was marked with an expression of concern. "Are you all right? You were writhing in your sleeping, and whimpering."

Jay forced a smile. "I'm fine. Just a bad dream. But . . . what happened? Why am I in bed?"

"You fell asleep at the park, so I brought you home," Nya explained.

Jay's blue eyes widened in shock. "Oh my gosh, I'm _so_ sorry, Nya―"

"It's all right, it's all right," she cut him off gently. "You don't have to apologize. But . . . do you think you'll be okay for doing the worship service tomorrow?"

"Of course I'll be okay!" Jay protested. "I'm not _that_ tired."

She looked at him questioningly. "I don't mean physically tired. I mean emotionally. You've been through a lot lately, and I'm sure Pastor Michael will understand if you tell him that you can't lead this week. I don't want you stressing yourself out."

There was a moment's silence, punctured only by Jay's easing breathing. "I don't want me stressing myself out either," he said finally, flopping back onto his pillows with a sigh. "Could you ask Kai if he could take over for tomorrow?"

"Of course." Nya's worried expression shifted into a smile. "But if I leave, can you promise you won't have another bad dream?"

"I'll have to 'let my yes be yes and my no be no' on this one," Jay said with a rueful smile.

"Fair enough. But I think you'll need this all the same." Kneeling beside Jay's bed, with her hand resting over his, Nya closed her eyes. "Dear God, please bless and protect Jay in his sleep. Guard him with Your mighty angels, and restore and bring healing to his heart and soul as he goes through this difficult time. May he have good sleep with pleasant dreams, and lift whatever may be burdening him away while he sleeps. In Jesus's name I pray, amen."

"Amen." Jay smiled gratefully at his fiancee as she stood up. "Thank you for that, Nya," he said. "I really did need it."

"You're more than welcome." Nya bent down and softly kissed Jay's forehead, drawing up the covers around his shoulders. "I love you, Jay."

"I love you too, Nya. See you in the morning."

"I'll see you then."

* * *

 *** = I have a headcanon that Kai and Nya have Spanish and Japanese blood; dominantly Japanese on Ray's side, dominantly Spanish on Maya's. _Abuelo_ and _Abuelita_ are the Spanish words for "grandpa" and "grandma", while _Ojisan_ and _Obasan_ are the Japanese words for the honorific forms of the same.**

 **** = FaceBase is from _Adventures in Odyssey_ , a combination of FaceBook and . . . something else XD**

 ***** = This story correlates with an unpublished fanfic called _Only an Echo_ which exists in the same universe. I'm not going give anything away, but . . . the name's in the title :3**

 ****** = Maybe this is prophetic . . . maybe it's not :3**

 ******* = This "aftershock" is based off something I experienced: I had a dream where I got stung by a scorpion in the palm of my hand, and when I woke up, the palm of my hand was tingling like there had been pressure put directly on that spot.**

 **#God's Not Dead!**

 **#Fear Isn't A Word Where I Come From! Perfect Love Casts Out ALL Fear!**

 **#Proud NinjNerd!**


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